


Order and Evolution

by Selena



Category: Babylon 5, Pirates of the Caribbean
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-01-28
Updated: 2008-01-28
Packaged: 2017-10-03 12:03:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selena/pseuds/Selena
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Vorlons did not care to be reminded of failures.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Order and Evolution

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Characters and situations owned by Disney and JMS, respectively.
> 
> Originally written for FFutures, who prompted: four degrees of separation from Kosh (_Babylon 5_) to the Kraken (_Pirates of the Caribbean_). Err, spoilers for anything Vorlon-related on B5 and for _PotC: At World's End_.

I.

When the Vorlons decided to interfere in the evolution of the younger races, they naturally started, on each planet, with the species that already harboured the most intelligence. On Earth, these were the whales. At first, the whale project went very well indeed; they proved themselves to be orderly creatures who lived in harmony with their environment and did not react hostile when some of them developed telepathy, oh no, being able to read each other's thoughts made their underwater dances only more beautiful.

But as time passed, it was undeniable that the whales stagnated. One of the more adventurous Vorlons suggested that maybe, just maybe, the Shadows had a point about aggression being useful for evolution, and at any rate would not hesitate to have this planet invaded by the aggressive species _they_ bred, so the Vorlons should show some flexibility. Though there was much debate about this, he was finally told to go ahead. So naturally, he picked another underwater species for the whales to compete with, only this time one that had already shown its natural outreaching tendency.

The fact they actually resembled the Vorlons in form was just an additional bonus.

 

II.

The Vorlons did not care to be reminded of failures. When the Kraken experiment failed as well and they turned to the creatures on land as a last resort, they never looked at another whale or kraken again. Time would deal with both failed species, they concluded, time and the third, newly promoted species, as it did on planets everywhere. (Just recently, something similar had happened on a planet not yet called Centauri Prime, and the Vorlons were confident that eventually, order would be restored, no matter how much the Xorn and the younger, newly intelligent species were struggling.)

The Vorlon who had pushed for the Kraken was most embarrassed of all and did not return to the planet in question for several millennia, until enough time had passed to ensure the results of his ill-fated experiment had vanished. But there was something in him that felt oddly guilty and responsible, and when it came to choosing a name for himself because the lesser species needed names in order to communicate with the Vorlons, he chose the word that had been the first pronounced in the newly intelligent mind of a Kraken. "Kosh".

It meant "what is this?" but none of the other Vorlons would ever now, because the language of the Kraken had been lost, and gladly so.

 

III.

 

It came as a shock to learn that one of the Kraken was still alive and wreaking havoc. Havoc, no less, that threatened to imperil the successful experiment of the planet, the humans. And the Vorlons needed the humans; now it would be only a very few centuries until they were ready to be used in the next great war with the Shadows. In fact, one of them had already proved their worth by travelling back in time from a future place and joining the Vorlons' current favourite race, the Minbari, in the last war against the Shadows, thus creating a time loop that had to be honoured. No, the humans had to survive.

Kosh picked one of the most order-loving of them, who had some measure of authority in the planetary region where the last of the Kraken still roamed. It was not easy to persuade Cutler Beckett he needed to get rid of the Kraken. After all, the Kraken was Davy Jones' favourite weapon, and Davy Jones was Beckett's. But Beckett's genes were conditioned along with the rest of the humans, and when he saw an angel telling him he was God's chosen and that the orderly ruling of the sea meant that one had to rid oneself of old weapon sometimes, he obeyed.

That, and he thought it would hurt Davy Jones. He felt utter delight at the thought of causing Jones pain, and when this impulse was reflected back on Kosh, the Vorlon recoiled. It was something only a Shadow creature should feel, surely.

They could not have become that much like the enemy, surely?

 

IV.

Kosh hovered over the body on the beach, and because he was not wearing a protective suit, the smell of decomposition assaulted him like a giant wave. He did not retreat, though it made him faintly sick.

Looking at the dead Kraken, he realized this was truly one of the first, the ones he had personally modified when they were nothing but small helpless creatures full of promise. It had survived through the millennia, and its last conscious thought, very much as its first, had been Kosh's name.

For the first time, he felt old. There were some of the youngest species fast approaching, he could feel it, and he did not want to dazzle them into forgetting. He did not want to encounter them at all right now. But he would do better by them, he resolved; he would not leave them to themselves. They would not end up like the Kraken.

In a language that no one remembered but himself, and no creature on earth would be able to pronounce because it was meant to be spoken under water, he murmured "farewell" and rose to the sky.


End file.
